Fierce weather has prompted evacuations and the closure of major roads on the East Coast.
One Mangatuna family's house is completely flooded and they've been forced to take shelter in Tolaga Bay school.
Civil Defense advised six families in the area to evacuate this morning because of rising water levels in the Hikuwai River.
Gisborne Emergency Management Officer Richard Steel says they may be cut off for some time.
“This could be a long time, depends how badly the bridge is damaged,” he says.
“We can’t get to it to do an assessment because of flooding of the state highway and the road that goes up to the bridge is flooded in several places.”
Meanwhile State Highway 5 - the Napier Taupo Road is now closed to all traffic, due to slips and flooding.
State Highway 2 from Opotiki to Gisborne is also closed.
Since last night a "phenomenal" 250mm of rain had fallen in the region, said Civil Defence controller Jon Davies.
Authorities are on alert as more rain is forecast to fall today on already saturated ground.
Residents close to the Waipaoa River, near Te Karaka, have been warned that banks could be breached if the rain continued.
Met Service said more heavy rain was expected in the Gisborne region today, spreading to Hawke's Bay where 120-180mm was forecast near the hills and ranges until noon tomorrow. A further 40-70mm is likely after that.
As winds turned more northeast, rain was predicted to become widespread in the Bay of Plenty and Coromandel Peninsula until tomorrow night or Tuesday morning.
NZPA / RadioLIVE